Data communications over a variety of networks, such as Internet protocol (IP) networks, mobile telephone networks and others have increased at an astonishing rate over recent years. The affordability and availability of computers, telephones, wireless devices and other network access appliances has made their use prevalent in a variety of applications. Further, as the demand for network access devices has increased, the diversity in types of network access appliances has also increased, with different devices often implementing different protocols and performance-based operational characteristics.
As access to the Internet and other communications networks becomes easier, convenient and more readily available, these networks are increasingly used for transferring data such as images, audio, email, video and text. In many applications, such data is desirably transferred or shared from a user's computer (or other network access appliance) on a selective basis for remote access by the user or to share with other users. For example, data for computer software, music, video, news services, games and other applications is often desirably shared and/or accessed remotely via the Internet and, for many applications, via wireless networks such as those implemented for mobile telephones, computers and other hand-held devices. Today, the number of network subscribers, data providers, and requests by those subscribers for data transfer, streaming data and other content are growing exponentially. In many such applications, access to data or other content by users owning or subscribing to the data is desirably flexible and controllable by such users. However, the limitations of current systems restrict the ability to meet demands for flexible, controllable access to media content or other data in a reliable, secure, efficient and affordable manner.
Content (e.g., audio, images or video) has evolved in application and is readily stored electronically. For example, the storage of music in rewritable electronic media has become a popular method in which to maintain and access music collections. Another example involves video applications, where digital recording and storage of television and personal video collections has become popular, as has the streaming (via the Internet) of audio and video. Photos are often stored and accessed electronically, instead of relying upon conventional printed photos and physical photo albums.
As the electronic storage of content and other data grows in popularity, access to the data, as well as convenient manners in which to store the data, have become increasingly important. For example, sales of music in downloadable audio formats are becoming increasingly popular. Digital audio players based in the home or office or mobile players that can be used in autos, laptop computers, personal listening devices and others are used for playback of this downloaded music. In order to play the music, audio data is loaded onto mobile players or local computers and used to locally play the music. Typically, the amount of storage space required for storing a large volume of audio data exceeds the memory capacity of digital audio players, computers or other appliances capable of playing music. In this regard, the management and use of audio, as well as other data such as image data and video data, has become increasingly burdensome in view of the demand for and use of this data.
Another challenge to data transfer and management stems from the existence of a myriad of different types of data, as well as different types of data access appliances. For example, a variety of different data types are implemented for storing audio files. Often, these data types are associated with a particular type of digital audio device that is being used for playback. In addition, with each data type, there are often different manners in which the data is stored, typically involving different levels of quality (e.g., with different playback bitrates). In this regard, a digital audio player must not only have access to data but also have access to data in a particular format.
Still another challenge to network data transfer involves the management of media rights associated with digital rights management (DRM). As discussed above, digital media such as audio or video can be purchased via electronic delivery. In order to inhibit and/or prevent copying, distribution or other unauthorized use of data, security precautions are taken. In some applications, these security precautions require specific approaches to enable playback, which can further exacerbate difficulties associated with data transfer and subsequent use (e.g., playback).
Effectively and efficiently managing shared media transfer via communication networks has been challenging in the face of the advancement of technologies and trade channels that use or could use network-based data transfer.